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Analysis of institutional authors

Martin-Correa PjAuthorRodríguez-Moreno JAuthorPorrero CAuthorClasca FAuthor

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October 20, 2025
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Article

Pathway-specific ultrastructure of thalamocortical synapses in mouse somatosensory area S2.

Publicated to: Journal Of Neuroscience. e1212252025-e1212252025 - 2025-10-17 45(50), DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1212-25.2025

Authors:

Martin-Correa PJ; Rubio-Teves M; Rodriguez-Moreno J; Porrero C; Rollenhagen A; Hilgetag CC; Lübke JHR; Clasca F
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Affiliations

Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Autónoma de Madrid University, Madrid, Spain, 28029. - Author
Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-10, Research Center Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany. - Author
University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Center for Experimental Medicine, Institute for Computational Neuroscience, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. - Author
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Abstract

The synaptic circuits established by thalamocortical axons from the ventral posteromedial (VPM) and posterior (Po) nuclei in the first somatosensory cortex have been mapped in high detail as they are a prime model in functional and modelling studies of the interactions between the thalamus and cerebral cortex. In addition, VPM and Po neurons innervate the second somatosensory area (S2), but the synaptic organization of their axons in this area remained essentially unknown. On adult male mice, we combined axon labeling with serial transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM) and Focused Ion Beam - Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) to measure and compare functionally relevant structural parameters of synaptic boutons (SBs); e.g.: bouton and mitochondrial volume, vesicle pool size, as well as postsynaptic density (PSD) distribution and size. We report that SBs established by caudal VPM and rostral Po synapses resemble each other in their pre- and postsynaptic ultrastructure, while caudal Po SBs are on average 50% smaller in size, number of synaptic vesicles and in total PSD area. We observed a high prevalence (>20%) of small synaptic contacts located in axon intervaricose regions that selectively contact thin, headless dendritic spines (a morphology associated with functionally "silent" synapses). In addition, comparison of the S2 SBs with our previous quantitative data on VPM and Po S1 SBs reveals that the wiring thalamocortical synapses in areas S2 and S1 is similar, supporting the view that both areas can process in parallel specific somatosensory signal streams.Significance statement Synaptic circuits established by ventral posteromedial (VPM) and posterior (Po) nuclei axons in the first somatosensory area (S1) of rodents are a key in experimental and modelling studies of interactions between the thalamus and cerebral cortex. In addition, VP and Po axons robustly innervate the second somatosensory area (S2) adjacent to S1, yet the structure of their synaptic circuits there were unknown. We combined selective axon labeling with high-end volumetric electron microscopy to measure and compare functionally relevant structural parameters among VP and Po synapses in area S2. We found that the wiring of thalamocortical synapses in S2 is as diverse and specific as those in area S1, supporting the view that both areas process sensory signal streams in parallel.
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Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal Of Neuroscience due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Neuroscience (Miscellaneous). Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-06:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 3.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 3 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 16.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Germany.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (MARTIN CORREA, PABLO JOSE) and Last Author (CLASCA CABRE, FRANCISCO).

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